The Water Table was created by contouring the static water levels from all wells where the top of the well screen is less than 20 m deep. It should be noted that the measured static water levels reflect measurements from wells that were drilled in all seasons as well as in wetter and dryer years. So the water table presented here is an average water table. Given the dynamic nature of the groundwater system, it should be noted that the actual water table at any given time of year may be on the order of up to 2 or 3 metres higher or lower than reflected in the map. The map also allows users to see the "Depth Below Ground" to the water table.

Each of Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay were extracted from the 'Ontario Hydrographic Network - Water Bodies' dataset. These were converted from polygons to points and assigned a standard elevation (Georgian Bay - 176 masl; Lake Simcoe - 219 masl; Lake Ontario - 74 masl).

The river network was found in the 'Water Virtual Flow - Seamless Provincial Data Set, 2008'. This dataset was divided into two sets based upon the river segment strahler code: one set comprised of strahler codes greater than 3; one set comprised of strahler codes between (and inclusive of) 3 and 2. Both sets were converted from polylines to points and tagged with elevations based upon the 'MNR DEM 10m v2' surface for the ORMGP study area. The sampling distance for this dataset was approximately 100m (along-stream) with some locations having more closely-spaced points. Any points found within the (above) Water Bodies were removed (these would have been part of the original virtual flow network).

Each of the input datasets (i.e. shallow water levels, water body points and river network points; note that the latter has a strahler code greater than '3') were rasterized at a 50m resolution, then combined and averaged for points falling within any particular raster cell.

A point density surface was created using bins of 1000, 2000 and 5000m – the 2000m surface provided a balance between the loose (1000m) and tight (5000m) surfaces (i.e. large unsampled areas versus small unsampled areas).

Based upon the vectorized 2000m density surface, points were extracted from the virtual flow river network, strahler codes 3 to 2, and rasterized to 50m resolution. Note that only those areas above the Paleozoic-Precambrian boundary (to the northeast) and the Niagara Escparment (to the west) were included for this part of the analysis.

Interpolated in Manifold GIS using Kriging (with the 'auto' model setting) using a 10pt search (default).

Examine the distribution/count of values across the depth range of 0 to 0.5m (see 'Distribution_offset_depth_vs_count.pdf'). There is a fairly constant set of counts across the range. We'll use the 0.5m imposed depth for any negative depth values (i.e. the uncorrected surface exceeds the DEM). Correct the Kriged surface to the DEM MNR v2 surface at a 50m resolution (forcing values exceeding the DEM to a (DEM-0.5) elevation).

The database of wells in the ORMGP includes all of the MOECC water well records as well as additional geotechnical/hydrogeological wells that have been entered into the database from other sources (consultant reports, Ontario Geological Survey, consultant databases, partner agency staff, etc.). Water levels are measured at nearly all wells at the time of drilling. The recorded static water level may or may not effectively reflect the water table position, depending upon when it was measured. Usually upon completion of drilling the well is pumped to estimate well capacity - sometimes insufficient time has passed to record a 'true' static water level (i.e. the well has fully recovered after pumping). In cases where water levels have been recorded many times in a shallow well the long term average water level is used to create the water table surface.

The Water Table was created by contouring the static water levels from all wells where the top of the well screen is less than 20 m deep. It should be noted that the measured static water levels reflect measurements from wells that were drilled in all seasons as well as in wetter and dryer years. So the water table presented here is an average water table. Given the dynamic nature of the groundwater system, it should be noted that the actual water table at any given time of year may be on the order of up to 2 or 3 metres higher or lower than reflected in the map. The map also allows users to see the "Depth Below Ground" to the water table.

Each of Lake Ontario, Lake Simcoe and Georgian Bay were extracted from the 'Ontario Hydrographic Network - Water Bodies' dataset. These were converted from polygons to points and assigned a standard elevation (Georgian Bay - 176 masl; Lake Simcoe - 219 masl; Lake Ontario - 74 masl).

The river network was found in the 'Water Virtual Flow - Seamless Provincial Data Set, 2008'. This dataset was divided into two sets based upon the river segment strahler code: one set comprised of strahler codes greater than 3; one set comprised of strahler codes between (and inclusive of) 3 and 2. Both sets were converted from polylines to points and tagged with elevations based upon the 'MNR DEM 10m v2' surface for the ORMGP study area. The sampling distance for this dataset was approximately 100m (along-stream) with some locations having more closely-spaced points. Any points found within the (above) Water Bodies were removed (these would have been part of the original virtual flow network).

Each of the input datasets (i.e. shallow water levels, water body points and river network points; note that the latter has a strahler code greater than '3') were rasterized at a 50m resolution, then combined and averaged for points falling within any particular raster cell.

A point density surface was created using bins of 1000, 2000 and 5000m – the 2000m surface provided a balance between the loose (1000m) and tight (5000m) surfaces (i.e. large unsampled areas versus small unsampled areas).

Based upon the vectorized 2000m density surface, points were extracted from the virtual flow river network, strahler codes 3 to 2, and rasterized to 50m resolution. Note that only those areas above the Paleozoic-Precambrian boundary (to the northeast) and the Niagara Escparment (to the west) were included for this part of the analysis.

Interpolated in Manifold GIS using Kriging (with the 'auto' model setting) using a 10pt search (default).

Examine the distribution/count of values across the depth range of 0 to 0.5m (see 'Distribution_offset_depth_vs_count.pdf'). There is a fairly constant set of counts across the range. We'll use the 0.5m imposed depth for any negative depth values (i.e. the uncorrected surface exceeds the DEM). Correct the Kriged surface to the DEM MNR v2 surface at a 50m resolution (forcing values exceeding the DEM to a (DEM-0.5) elevation).

The database of wells in the ORMGP includes all of the MOECC water well records as well as additional geotechnical/hydrogeological wells that have been entered into the database from other sources (consultant reports, Ontario Geological Survey, consultant databases, partner agency staff, etc.). Water levels are measured at nearly all wells at the time of drilling. The recorded static water level may or may not effectively reflect the water table position, depending upon when it was measured. Usually upon completion of drilling the well is pumped to estimate well capacity - sometimes insufficient time has passed to record a 'true' static water level (i.e. the well has fully recovered after pumping). In cases where water levels have been recorded many times in a shallow well the long term average water level is used to create the water table surface.